Anyone with experience of the VESC Open Source ESC?

[Peter "Sci" Turpin]

The cheapest I can find this board design ready-built is about $100USD.
I don't think there are many other options for low RPM brushless motor
control with regenerative breaking.

Specifically I'm curious if anyone's used them with large diameter
brushless motors, like those found in those "hoverboard" designs.

[Pinski1]

Hey,

I've been doing a lot of work with them.

There's a couple of copies on eBay/AliExpress available to buy as well as a few independent shops. e.g. http://www.vesc.co.uk/ or https://www.scramboards.com/index.php

They're worth about £100 so you won't find them much cheaper than that.

I've been using them semi-successfully on 6374 170kv 3.2kW motors (not at full current) and C80100 70kv 6kw motors (also not full current). In both cases it's been under load and worked pretty nicely, you know, until it soft limited due to over-current.

If you can wait for a couple of months a much improved version 6 is due to come out but if your need is urgent version 4.12 is the latest.

I've not used them with the hub motors from Chinese Hoverboards. I have played around with those motors and have used one of these to do so: http://www.banggood.com/36V-48V-60V-64V-500W-600W-Dual-Mode-Electric-Vehicle-Brushless-DC-Motor-Controller-p-1027142.html (I bought the 36V 600W version) They're a little cheaper but I didn't really test the hub motor & ESC under load.

[Peter "Sci" Turpin]

It's not urgent by any means. It's a curiosity project.

What I want to do is see if it's possible to use the cheap hub motors to
build a walker leg setup like the MIT Cheetah. Their motors were custom
and cost a few thousand each though. I want to see if a "good enough"
result can be achieved with commodity hardware roughly the same shape &
size.

So the generic brushless controllers aren't really suitable as I'd be
after precise control over about 170 degrees.

It sounds like the the VESC can be set up for the needed closed-loop
operation, and the regenerative breaking is great for improving
walk-loop power efficiency. If I'm wrong about that though, it's not
suitable afterall.

I know there's a much cheaper controller out there designed exclusively
with closed-loop control in mind (
https://hackaday.com/2016/07/29/3-phase-bldc-motor-controller-will-run-you-20-in-parts/
) but it's not made for hooking up to hall sensors & would be hard to
mount to the hoverboard-style hub motors. Also, no regen.

[Pinski1]

Oh boy, you're in for a treat.

Check this out: http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/jumping-leg.html

Here's the rest of the blog posts on the subject: http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/HobbyKing%20Cheetah

But really just enjoy the whole blog.

[Peter "Sci" Turpin]

That's awesome! I'm really glad to see others are also trying variations
on the idea!

Only downside is it might make me think designing custom motor
controllers is easier than it is. ;P

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